The Early Years THE RECOGNITION OF MY PSYCHIC ABILITY I am often asked if I was "born with a veil" and if my abilities are a result of that special circumstance. To be "born with a veil" means that, at the time of birth, a part of the amniotic sac (in which the fetus has lived in the mother's womb) covers the face of the newborn. A superstition persists that those born with a veil possess extraordinary psychic powers, that they are psychically superior to the average person, and that it represents an omen from God. To me, this theory is unfounded; it remains nothing more than a superstition. Many who were born with a veil don't even know it, and those who do know it certainly don't all exhibit fantastic psychic powers. It is also true that some of the most psychic and intuitive among us were definitely born without a veil. The answer I always give is, "Yes, I was born with a veil, but I don't attribute my psychic ability to an amniotic sac!" I have worked too long and too hard, developing this ability to a finer degree, to believe it is just a circumstance of birth. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, of Italian ancestry. Both sets of grandparents came from Palermo, Sicily. Growing up, I experienced all the excitement, emotion, and intensity typical of an Italian family! My school years were filled with sports, social activities, and just about every contest I could find to enter. Winning academic and sports awards brought me the attention I craved. With all my many activities, I was a highly self-disciplined student, so my parents never had to force me to study. I realize now that I was a perfectionist even way back then, and I took great pride in my ability to stay at the top of my class. As early as age twelve I knew I had special psychic abilities. I recall, in particular, one day when I noticed what appeared to be colors around a junior high school teacher's head and shoulders, as he lectured. A flash of the color green, then an airplane, and then the city of Philadelphia appeared to me to the right of his head. I had had no psychic training -- in fact, I didn't even know what a "psychic" was -- but I felt this was an event coming up for him and that it would be good. (The green light gave me that indication.) After class, I went up to the teacher and asked if he were planning a plane trip to Philadelphia. He said yes, he was, and then asked if he had mentioned it in class. I said, "No. I just had a feeling about it." Later, it was confirmed that he had a safe and enjoyable trip. As time went on, it became apparent that whenever I saw or felt something to the left of a person, it represented the past. Something to the right represented the person's future. This remains true for me today: I "read" people like a book, left to right. I began to understand that the colors I was seeing around people were part of the aura, or energy field, surrounding all living things. I began picking up thoughts from others telepathically and became adept at the most common form of extrasensory perception (ESP), the feeling of "just knowing" something was going to happen. This occurred more and more frequently, and I was right most of the time. In high school, when I knew the answer to a question the teacher was asking, I would concentrate on my name being called without having to raise my hand. A good percentage of the time my little game worked! Without even realizing it, I was sharpening my mental abilities through practice. In college, my roommates constantly tested me, asking what grade they might get on an exam or whether they would hear from a certain boy at a certain time. The more I used this intuitive sense, the more accurate I became. (Practice does make perfect!) And because I felt close to God, having grown up in a devout Catholic environment, I believed my faith had a lot to do with my abilities.